Past Lives

Past Lives was a film that didn’t have too much traction originally despite the initial trailers being solid (if not the most intriguing) yet jumped up in public awareness when it started to receive Oscar nominations in various categories. One of the more recent releases from still-growing film production company, A24, the film’s positive tracking in the critical space but limited success at the box office (only managing to earn back $21 million against a $12 million budget which isn’t too bad, but it can’t say it broke even), showed that it was a film that appealed to those that sought it out, but wasn’t going to be a crowd-pleaser that could attract the mainstream. With that in mind, the results are as expected and prove to be perfectly solid. In Seoul, South Korea, young classmates Na Young and Hae Sung (played by Seung Ah Moon and Seung Min Yim) develop feelings for each other and go out on a date the day before Na Young and her family immigrant to America. After twelve years have passed, Na Young, who has changed her name to Nora (played now by Greta Lee), has found a comfortable life for herself, but coincidentally comes across Hae Sung (played now by Teo Yoo) online, who after serving military service and studying to become an engineer, tried to search her out. After a few conversations, the two decide to stop interacting until they have accomplished something with their lives, which results in another twelve-year gap where Nora has married fellow writer, Arthur (played by John Magaro) and Hae Sung is struggling with his own relationship problems. Planning on travelling to New York to meet up with Nora after several decades apart, these two will need to decide what their role in each other’s lives is going to be, especially since everybody (including Arthur) believes they are destined for one another. Past Lives isn’t a film that thinks outside the box or portrays a fairly familiar romantic setup in an extremely different light, but for a small, artsy film with the limited amount of content it has, it manages something pretty decent through nice direction, acting and visuals.

Being a semi-autobiographical picture with much of the film’s outline being inspired from real events by the film’s writer and director, Celine Song, Past Lives on the surface almost feels unfinished. When the trailers presented a story about two childhood friends reuniting years later and trying to determine whether or not they are meant for each other, that truly is all that happens in this movie. There’s no antagonistic force, no sense of turmoil or conflict that gets in the way, no added cinematic components to stretch out the running time, not even many side characters to focus on away from the two leading characters, it is about as pure a delivery of an idea that you can get, and feels pretty unique given how it has more recognition and mainstream appeal than something much more experimental and niche (which you could argue this film could’ve slotted into).  It feels like the script was never delved into or retooled past the basic outline (which would map out the plot points and brief summary of the events) and therefore, doesn’t really contain much else outside of this standard semi-romantic life drama, which comes with its own form of pros and cons. The obvious con is that the film is incredibly sparse with its narrative, and due to not featuring anything along the lines of visual storytelling, an abundance of characters to bounce arcs off of, or even themes or ideas that are really that groundbreaking, it’s not a movie that has a lot to say. There is a hint of a unique idea added about fated love and whether or not people are tied together by something more than sheer coincidence, but it’s not really delved into that much and more so feels like a tag line to add a different spin on what otherwise would be a basic romance. The dialogue is passable enough and there is a decent framework to this story and some of these scenes from a scripting level, but it’s hard to say that it really stands out that strong against other stories that talk about love, or even ones that feature a culture clashes. However, in spite of its very brisk plot, it doesn’t feel lazy in its execution, and a lot of that seems to come from Celine Song’s direction. Being a playwright who made a few plays before having this film be her feature directorial debut, Song is able to bring a sense of simplistic beauty and graceful impact to what could’ve otherwise been a dull nothing experience. It’s paced well, the actors are all well led, the dialogue isn’t amazing but is deliver in a way that doesn’t fully come across as pretentious, the visuals lack storytelling but are pretty to look at nonetheless, and when the film reaches its end, it might not leave you with a lot on your mind, but there is at least enough contemplation in its delivery that won’t make you feel like you’ve gotten nothing from this experience. Being produced by David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, all three of whom have been attached to several highly acclaimed independent projects, this feels up their wheelhouse and they would’ve been able to help stitch this project together. It does feel like a play with its minimal locations, cast of characters and even subject matter, but even with that knowledge, it doesn’t feel limited in any fashion and still feels decently cinematic.

Alongside the solid direction, the acting in this movie does a lot of heavy-lifting and greatly assists in making this concept not only feel human and real, but also as engaging as it can be. Like everything else in the film, these characters are paper-thin and have very little defining them outside of what happens to them, and even that isn’t always showcased. That lack of showcase is an issue the film does suffer with, as despite at least keeping the bare essentials needed to make this story work, it could’ve used a few extra scenes involved with other characters to make it feel just a hint more alive. Scenes of that kind add a sense of flavor to a text and allow for more insight into a character and their current situation, and since the film doesn’t do that and breezes past elements that at least deserve some form of exploration (like the relationships the leads have with their significant others and their families), it feels like something is missing without that typical cinematic component. The movie’s insistence on sticking to a realistic approach (probably due to coming from a real event) means that it avoids generic cliches and tropes of the genre, but it also leaves even the characters put on screen sometimes feeling a little limp. The character of Arthur is played well by John Magaro and it’s nice that he’s not the jealous husband who the movie even states should be acting as an obstacle for a messy love story, but it means that he doesn’t have any role at all outside of just not being that archetype. You don’t get to know that much about him or even his relationship with Nora, so he and his entire role feels pretty underdeveloped. As expected, the only two that have anything to work with are the two leads, but even they could’ve used a bit more flavor in order to feel more well-rounded. In spite of that, both Teo Yoo and especially Greta Lee, are quite strong here, and bring enough character and charm to these roles to make them feel at least believable. Ironically, they don’t really have romantic chemistry to the levels that the film is spouting (if anything, they do just feel like very good friends), but it could be argued that is the point, like it’s a buried level of chemistry that is almost present in a fated sense rather than a physical one, but it doesn’t really come across like that.

For a film that also doesn’t have a lot of visuals to show off, it is actually quite nice looking and presents these locations in a cinematic enough way without going overboard. As previously stated, the film does lack a visual language, so it means that despite there being plenty of opportunities for the movie to visually present some form of narrative progression, it doesn’t really take advantage of that outside of a few shots in the opening (the shot of the two children walking away against different stairwells is obvious but is still a nice visual). In spite of that, the film does have a nice visual style to it that helps make even generic environments look nice. You can feel a level of inspiration this film took from examples like Lost in Translation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which they even make reference to) from the subdued atmosphere and the naturalistic yet also dream-like visual quality, and while it doesn’t contain the levels of abstractness or grounded surrealism that those movies have, it features enough of that idea to result in some shots being very nice looking. Filmed on a 35mm camera, the cinematography by Shabier Kirchner is polished, very nicely framed and while a little aimless and drawn-out at times, manages to capture a sense of natural yet still stylish beauty through nice angles, effective lighting and shadow work, and simple yet still pretty imagery of buildings and suburban areas. Making the areas of focus both New York City and Seoul is a nice touch as both feel like bustling cities that are glistening and awe-inspiring from a distance yet can still feel like humble living environments from up close, it gets some nice establishing shots of each location and does a good job counter-cutting between the two, showing how they are similar in some parts, but also very different in other ways. The music is also quite strong and does a great job at building this interesting atmosphere the film is presenting, with the score by both Christopher Bear and Daniel Rossen (who are both part of the indie rock group, Grizzly Bear) managing to be calming and relaxing whilst still working as a normal sounding background piece, providing noticeable Asian-based instrumentation against a more contemporary sound.

Past Lives feels like a very good brand of vanilla ice cream; it doesn’t hide that it’s pretty basic, there are various other flavours and varieties that contain more ingredients to make it more interesting, and there are definitely better things to eat out there, but at the end of the day, it’s still good ice cream in spite of being basic. That’s what this movie is, delivering something that is arguably too basic for its own good, in a solid enough manner which makes you appreciate what it does right rather than what it leaves out. There are elements that won’t make it work for everybody like its ideas being as stripped back as possible, containing themes that might be fun to think about from a spiritual level, but aren’t properly dissected, and characters that are more defined by what they do rather than who they are, but for those who considered themselves cinephiles or even people who want a movie that’s about ‘’something more’’, this seems like it’ll float your boat. It has good acting, direction, and visuals to back it up and considering its niche popularity within the film convention circuit, it has done pretty good for itself outside of that space as well, so whether by fate or by happenstance, this movie has come into your life and has the chance to change it forever.